10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze

10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze

M. 14 at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, OK
Type Howitzer
Place of origin Austria-Hungary
Service history
In service 1914-1945
Used by  Austria-Hungary
 Albania
 Austria
 Czechoslovakia
 Nazi Germany
 Greece
 Italy
 Hungary
 Poland
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Wars World War I
World War II
Production history
Designer Skoda
Manufacturer Skoda
Produced 1914-1918.
Specifications
Weight 1,350 kg (2,970 lbs)
Barrel length 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) L/19
Crew 6

Shell separate loading, fixed case
Caliber 100 mm (3.93 in)
Breech horizontal sliding block
Recoil hydro-spring variable recoil
Carriage box trail
Elevation -8° to +50°
Traverse
Rate of fire 6-8 rpm
Muzzle velocity 407 m/s (1,335 ft/s)
Maximum firing range 8,400 m (9,100 yards)

The 10 cm M. 14 Feldhaubitze was a dual-purpose field and mountain gun used by Austria-Hungary during World War I. Between the wars it was used by Austria, Italy, and Poland. Captured weapons were used by Nazi Germany under the designations 10 cm leFH 14(ö) and 10 cm leFH 315(i). It served as the standard Italian medium howitzer as the Obice da 100/17 modello 14.

Design

It was a conventional design, although the first versions used an obsolescent wrought bronze barrel liner and a cast bronze jacket. Later versions used a standard steel barrel. The spade was in two pieces, one designed for use in icy ground and the other in normal soil.

Two cannoneers sat in seats attached to the shield, as was normal for the period. It was pulled by three pairs of horses when attached to its limber. The carriage could be broken down into three loads carried on small carts for transport in rough terrain. Postwar some weapons were modernized for motor towing with new rubber-tired wheels and the seats on the shield removed. A more extensive postwar update by Czechoslovakia was designated as the 10 cm houfnice vz. 14/19 and was exported to Poland, Greece and Yugoslavia.

References

Note: The data for this howitzer differs between sources, also considering how often it was modified, and cannot be considered definitive. Data provided has generally been for a steel-tubed howitzer as given at the U.S. Army Field Artillery Museum, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.

    External links

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